'There are some cadres and party members whose revolutionary ideals have faded and who are far from the masses'

After the 4th Central Conference of the 13th term, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, on behalf of the Central Executive Committee, signed and issued Regulation No. 37-QD/TW on 19 things that party members are not allowed to do, replacing Regulation No. 47-QD/TW (issued in 2011).

One of the two completely new provisions in Regulation No. 37 is "Refuting, denying, and distorting Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh thought; not implementingresponsibility to set an example; individualism, opportunism, self-interest; "term thinking", solidarity, formal democracy, not defending what is right, not fighting what is wrong; authoritarianism, despotism, bureaucracy, and being out of touch with the masses".

Party members must not deviate from the Party's ideological foundation.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Bui Dinh Phong (Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics), since the 7th Congress (June 1991) until now, our Party has always affirmed that the revolutionary cause and the Party's renovation policy are based on the foundation of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought - the ideological foundation and compass for the Party's actions and the Vietnamese revolution. That affirmation shows the great significance and lasting value of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought for our country's revolution and the fact that the Party's ideological foundation has brought about great revolutionary achievements of historical significance in 35 years of national renovation.

However, in reality, there are a number of cadres and party members whose revolutionary ideals have faded, who have distanced themselves from the masses, and who have even denied and deposed Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's thought. Along with that, the degradation of political ideology, morality and lifestyle of a significant number of cadres and party members has not been pushed back, and in some cases, there are still sophisticated and complicated developments.

Many Party organizations and Party members are still limited in their awareness, negligent, lose vigilance, and are confused in identifying and fighting against and preventing "self-evolution" and "self-transformation"; the fight against and refuting of false and distorted arguments by hostile forces, reactionary elements, opportunists, and political discontents is still passive, lacking sharpness, and not very effective.

The 13th National Party Congress also affirmed the need to strengthen the protection of the Party's ideological foundation, resolutely and regularly fight against erroneous, hostile, and opportunistic political views; fight against and prevent degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation".

“The addition of a regulation prohibiting party members from refuting, denying, and distorting Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought is very correct, so that cadres and party members have faith in the Party's leadership as well as the goal of the path to socialism in our country. If there is no prohibition, cadres may stray from the Party's ideals, because that is a short step, even a very short step, to assisting and colluding with hostile forces to sabotage the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation,” said Mr. Bui Dinh Phong.

Emphasizing that individualism is the root cause of dangerous diseases such as embezzlement, waste, corruption, bureaucracy, and distance from the people, Mr. Bui Dinh Phong said that this is a disease that must be resolutely fought against and eradicated throughout the Party. The nature of individualism is a pragmatic lifestyle, absolutizing personal interests, only caring about one's own interests in everything, not caring about the common interests of the collective, as long as "one is fat, let the world be thin". Therefore, it is necessary to resolutely fight to eradicate individualism throughout the Party, especially the state of degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and fight against ideological deviations in each Party member.

“Now we focus on “fighting” the degradation of political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, considering it the root. If we do not fight and destroy it, economic corruption will still exist.”

Mr. Bui Dinh Phong said so and emphasized that Regulation 37 is a framework of standards to guide behavior for Party members to promote exemplary pioneering in Party activities as well as in performing duties and tasks. This regulation is an important basis for the Party organization to inspect, supervise, and handle violations by cadres and Party members, creating changes in the awareness and actions of cadres and Party members. Party members who violate this regulation must be handled strictly, accurately, and promptly according to Party regulations and State laws.

“For cadres and party members, everything must be absorbed into their blood and flesh, transformed into concrete actions. 19 things or how many things are just specific numbers, the important thing is that each person correctly perceives the evil and negative manifestations and knows how to fight them, that is the decisive factor” – Mr. Bui Dinh Phong emphasized.

Regulation 37 is inherited and supplementary.

Mr. Vu Van Phuc - Vice Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Central Party Agencies, former Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Magazine said that in Regulation No. 37, the Central Committee basically inherited the relevant content, and at the same time added some content to meet the requirements of the tasks of Party building and rectification in the new situation, in the spirit of the Resolutions of the 12th and 13th National Congresses.

Such as Regulation 08 of the 12th Central Executive Committee on the exemplary responsibility of cadres and party members, first of all Politburo members, Secretariat members, and Central Executive Committee members; Regulation 205 of the Politburo on controlling power in personnel work and combating the abuse of power and position; Conclusion No. 14 dated September 22, 2021 of the Politburo on the policy of encouraging and protecting dynamic and creative cadres for the common good... are all concretized into things that party members are not allowed to do.

“Regulation 37 has compiled all of our Party's regulations into a system of things that Party members are not allowed to do, while promoting the role of setting an example in strictly implementing the Party's Charter, Resolutions, and Directives of the Party and the obligation to comply well with the State's policies and laws of Party members, especially leaders and managers. The higher the responsibility, the more exemplary one must be,” Mr. Vu Van Phuc emphasized.

In order for the Regulation to soon come into effect, the former Editor-in-Chief of Communist Magazine said that it is necessary to strengthen propaganda work to achieve high unity within the Party as well as consensus in society so that people can contribute to Party building work.

To implement Regulation 37, the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire political system must have a very high political determination to implement it in real life. In addition, the State needs to institutionalize it through a legal system and policy mechanisms so that cadres and party members can strictly comply.

“In order for the Party Regulations to soon come into effect, first of all, cadres and party members must set an example, especially the higher the position of party members, the more exemplary they must be. Anyone who commits violations or shortcomings must be strictly handled, there are no “no-go zones” or exceptions,” said Mr. Vu Van Phuc./.